My inner novelist remains within, at this point, but just the other day I overheard a great testament that many of us are born to weave fiction! My seven-year old was skyping with her six-year old cousin, and my niece was telling mighty tales, fraught with intricacies. Ladies and gentlemen, there are Lutheran novelists among us. But, when they’ve grown up and actually written their novels, how can we find them? Are they hidden away in a sea of different publishers and Amazon? No longer! I am pleased to present you with . . .

My first installment of that project is a list of living Lutheran novelists. Were you afraid that Lutheran fiction ended with Bo Giertz’s Hammer of God? That there simply aren’t Lutheran fiction writers today? They are out there, and they are finding work and audiences. I bet there are even more and we just haven’t discovered them yet!

What I’m hoping is that people will be able to google “Lutheran novel” or “Lutheran novelist” and find the page to be a handy list, linked to Amazon or personal webpages. Just bookmark it and check in whenever there’s another chance for you to delve into a new book or to check out a new-to-you author. Maybe this can even make gift-giving occasions easier for you.

Use the list to read like-minded people. Use the list to explore different writing styles and the wide spectrum of plot and character potential! Use it as a short cut to remember that there is a market for Lutheran fiction and there are others out there, fulfilling their dreams to be writers.

I’ll need to rely on you to help me keep this list current, so let me know if you hear any novel news! I, for one, just heard from the novelist himself that Fred Baue is about to debut a project in June or July! Woo hoo!

It’s a good time to be a Lutheran reader, a Lutheran writer, or just a plain, saved-by-Jesus, loving-the-Means person!

Hmm…my first question would be to ask about the selection criteria. Is it authors certified by a Lutheran Authors Board, or ones that list membership in a Lutheran church in their writer bio, or ones who openly use Lutheran themes in their work? And is it all Lutherans, or only those from those sub-sections that are considered “true Lutherans”?

I’d also like a little more detail on the list than just names. What genre do they write in? Have they written anything I might have heard of? Do they have special qualities aside from Lutheranism that might influence my desire to read them?

The selection criteria is simply living, Lutheran novelist with at least one novel listed on Amazon (so, pre-publication is ok, but only if a novel is near publication). The novels do not need to be explicitly religious in nature and church membership needn’t be especially public. I don’t know of any Lutheran authors board, other than perhaps denominational publishing houses, but, as I said in the page intro., such publishers aren’t typically in the novel-business.

I am the one putting together the list, and I did not ask participants to pass any sort of theological test. At the same time, as far as I know, the vast majority of my list is LCMS, although at least one, Walt Wangerin, is ELCA. I was pleasantly surprised to see that many are LCMS pastors or wives of LCMS pastors. I found the vast majority of them through various Lutheran writing groups, and, given my circles, I’d expect the list to remain heavy on those with LCMS connections, though I cannot guarantee that.

I chose not to include genres, biographies, or specific descriptions, since each name is linked to an Amazon (or other) author pages for additional information. Rather than “endorsing” them, I hope this list allows another way they can market themselves.

At least two, Paul Meier and Walt Wangerin, are famous enough I did not seek permission to include their names, but several authors are doing well enough to have entire series published.

I haven’t read them all. Many I’m just now discovering, too. But I hope I’ve answered your questions satisfactorily. 🙂

About Me

Mary Jackquelyn Moerbe (rhymes with Furby) is an LCMS deaconess, writer, speaker, and homeschooler. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Letters, a combination of history, literature, language, and philosophy, and a BA in music. Her master of arts degree is in theology with deaconess certification from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. She and her husband, Rev. Ned A. Moerbe, have six children and live in Oklahoma.

About this Site

The “Meet, Write, and Salutary” blog encourages Lutherans to write. At the same time, maybe this website is better understood as a reading, writing, and resources place.

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I participate in the Amazon Associates Program. If you follow links on my page, I may receive a small commission with zero additional cost to you. Beyond an occasional free book, I receive no reimbursement or profit from endorsing or reviewing.